1. Business, IT and Engineering Division
Learning to Learn
Independent Learning
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2. Contents Page
What is independent learning? 3
How can independent learning help you? 4
How to set about learning independently 5
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3. Independent Learning
This booklet contains information and activities that will help you to consider:
• What is meant by independent learning
• How independent learning can help you
• How to set about learning independently
What is meant by “independent learning”?
One broad definition of independent learning is:
“The ability to take charge of one’s learning”
By the time you are going to university, you probably already are an independent learner, to
at least some degree, and you will have “taken charge of” a proportion of your learning.
When you were at school or college you will have found that as you became older and
started on A-levels, your teachers gave you more choices instead of telling you exactly what
to do and when to do it. They expected you to take more responsibility for your work.
Being able to make informed choices and taking responsibility for your own learning
activities are two facets of learning independently. Think back to an occasion when you
decided on your own title for an essay or the topic for a project that you wanted to work on
and then completed by a certain deadline. A key word here would be “wanted”: motivation
is vital for successful independent learning. Another important element in independent
learning is feeling confident enough to actually take decisions and act on those decisions.
You also need to appreciate the value of reflecting on your learning and deciding whether it
has been effective or whether you need to try another approach.
At school, what you learn is largely decided by your teachers, who are in turn constrained
by curricula. However, even at school, you may have been aware of having weaknesses in
some areas and decided to devote extra time and energy to making improvements. On the
other hand, there may have been certain subjects which were your strengths and which you
particularly enjoyed. As a result you may have chosen to do “extra” work in these subjects.
You were learning independently, deciding what to do, how to do it and whether it was
worthwhile.
Can you remember an occasion when you chose to do “extra” when at school? It may not
have been an academic activity but in the realm of sport or music, for example. What
motivated you and what was the outcome of your independent work?
Does independent learning mean working on your own?
No, independent learning does not mean working on your own. You may well find that you
share a problem with another student on your course or even in another discipline.
Working with someone else, encouraging each other and talking through difficulties may
be the most effective and motivating way of working independently.
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4. If you have a problem, explaining it to someone else can help to clarify issues for you.
Explaining a concept to someone without shared background knowledge is a very good
way of making sure you understand the full implications of the concept.
How can independent learning help you?
Being able to work independently is a skill highly valued by employers so it may ultimately
help you in securing a job. In the short term, it may help you to feel more “in control” of
what you are doing.
 Setting your own goals and deadlines
 Organising yourself, your work and your time
 Evaluating your use of time and your work are some elements of independent
learning. They can have immediate benefits in being more efficient and effective.
The general area of “Study Skills” may be an area for independent learning. Weaknesses in
any of the skills given in the activity below will mean you are not working as effectively as
you might. Devoting some time to improving study skills will clearly be helpful. Again it may
be better for you to work on these skills with someone else, rather than on your own.
From the skills below, decide whether there are any you need to improve. What priority rating
would you give to the need, from 1 (really need to make changes) to 5 (room for some
improvement here but not urgent)
 Organising yourself and your time
 Note-taking
 Gathering and using information
 Reading
 Listening
 Writing
 Speaking
 Remembering
 Working with others
Do you feel you can work on your weaker skills yourself or would some advice and support
be welcome. Often it can help just to talk through problems and you will end up seeing
solutions yourself.
The areas where you need or want to work independently may, on the other hand, relate
directly to your particular subject(s) of study. Here, any independent work will increase
your confidence and may help you, both immediately and when it comes to exams or other
assessments. Have you, for example, considered reading around a topic before a lesson is
given on it? This type of independent preparation can help you to gain much more from the
lesson itself because you are in tune with the subject matter and can think more critically
about what is being presented.
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5. How to set about learning independently?
First you will need to carefully analyse just what your problems and weaknesses/special
interests are. (In the area of study skills you will have already made an initial analysis in the
activity above.) For example, when you are studying, is your weak area broadly grammar,
vocabulary, writing, speaking, listening, or reading? If you decide that grammar is the
problem area you’ll then need to break this down further to decide what aspect/s cause
problems - for example past tenses of verbs or word order in a sentence.
Once you’ve decided exactly what your specific problems/interests are, you can draw up a
list. Which need to be addressed the most urgently or is there a natural, logical order in
which to tackle them? In other words, work out your priorities. Whatever your subject, don’t
be afraid to return to the basics if necessary. It may give you more confidence in the long
run to ensure you have a firm understanding of basic concepts and techniques.
It will probably pay you to set aside a specific time each week for your independent work
and write it down in your timetable. Unless a time is allocated in this way, it’s all too easy for
independent work to be squeezed out by other activities and good intentions can wither
away.
Look at your timetable. Where could you usefully fit in some independent study? Is there an
odd hour, for example, between lessons, which usually just seems to disappear? Could that
time be regularly used for independent work? Organising and reading over lesson notes for
example. Your next step will be to work out a realistic study-plan for your work. What goals
could you realistically set yourself? Don’t make them too ambitious but set minor goals or
targets that you know you will be able to achieve without having to spend a very long time
working on them. How many hours will you need to achieve them? How will you know when
you’ve achieved them? Try giving yourself clear aims:
“By the time I’ve read and made notes on …
I’ll be able to plan almost any essay on the topic of…”
When you work independently, it’s a good idea to keep a record of the work you’ve done.
This can help with further planning and also give a sense of achievement as well as provide
something to include in a progress file. As time goes by you may surprise yourself with what
you’ve been able to cover. This could motivate you to keep going as could increased
confidence and even improved results!
Your record need not be elaborate – simply a series of A4 sheets, for example, with a column
for the date, one for the work covered and one for your reflections on the work. Reflecting
on what you’ve done can help you decide whether the activity was really effective, whether
an alternative approach might be better on another occasion, whether you spent the right
amount of time and whether you achieved the target you’d set yourself.
Once you’ve achieved the target, the process of planning can start again. Your needs and
priorities may have changed, so think about them and then set yourself another target.
Independent learning can become a lifelong habit.
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